User blog:FloralLungs/Tim + Tom, Was their relationship Healthy?
I credit this to Psycho Manchester, who not only brought my attention to the journal page with the brief note on Folie a Deux, "Madness of Two" or Shared Psychosis. Originally, I intended this for Tim's page, however this has become more intricate than I initially perceived. And far more darker than I once thought. Firstly, I'm going to address Elephant Elephant. The most popular case of twin sisters, Ursula and Sabina Eriksson. However... This particular case did not intrigue me. It IS everyone's go-to for Folie a Deux. I also want to address that there are multiple forms of shared psychosis and can stem from two people to the entire family a case of a dog being involved. So let's cover psychosis briefly, as this is pretty fundamental. Psychosis is defined by an impaired perception of reality. The two main symptoms are Hallucinations seeing, feeling, smelling or tasting imagined things and Delusions a strong belief not shared by others. such as a conspiracy that someone is out to harm them, that a celebrity is in love with them, or that they're a savior. Causes of Psychosis include; Forms of Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Severe Depression, Traumatic Events, Stress, Drug and/or Alcohol Misuse, Side effects of prescribed Medicines, physical conditions as a brain tumor or injury. This is the very basics of Psychosis. So... When you have shared psychosis, it's usually caused by a single person with psychosis essentially spreading the delusion - though there exist cases in which both are predispositioned. SHARED Psychosis symptoms include; A delusion develops in an individual in the context of a close relationship with another persons who has an already established delusion, The delusion is similar in content to the person with the established delusion, the disturbance is not better accounted for by another psychotic disorder, mood disorder w/ psychotic features and is not due to physiological effects or substance or medical condition. Shared Psychosis is a shared delusion between two or more people and both support one another in this belief. They must have an unusually close relationship. Evidence exists that indicates the delusion was induced in the passive member by contact with the active member. Shared Psychosis can come in 4 Sub-Types: - Subtype A - Folie Impossee, the delusions of a person with psychosis are transferred to a person who is mentally sound. Both are intimately associated and delusions in the recipient disappear after separation. Both affected individuals showed delusional thinking, lack of judgement, poor attention and concentration. Both would be perseverative and sometimes preoccupied with limited relatedness. - Subtype B - Folie Simultanee, simultaneous appearance of an identical psychosis which occurs in two people who are both intimately associated and morbidly predispositioned psychosis. They would show paranoia, lack of insight, disorganized thought processes in extreme cases, and lack of relatedness. - Subtype C - Folie Communiquee, the recipient develops the psychosis after a long period of resistance and maintains symptoms even after separation. They show hypervigilance, obsessive thinking, brooding, rumination, anxiety, and lack of reasoning. - Subtype D - Folie Induite, NEW delusions are adopted by an individual who already has pre-existing psychosis under the influence of another individual with psychosis. They show a mental state similar to a psychotic patient, namely paranoia; lack of reasoning, judgement and insight and poor relatedness. Limited eye contact to autism, bizarre mannerisms and magical thinking to schzoid, I think?. Now. We know the 4 types. But which one did the twins suffer? Before I go into detail, there's a few other interesting things I wanna note. Particularly just how close were the boys? Maybe I'm thinking way too deep into this, but it's actually pretty interesting. People who suffer this delusion ARE close. Closer than what is deemed normal or even healthy - so in brief, that already answers our original question, minus the why. In many cases, Folie a Deux affects twins. Stereotypically, it's sisters though there's plenty of evidence to suggest males are equally as affected. Point is, twins are very susceptible, considering their naturally close nature. And most cases are family related. You get lovers, though blood is much more common. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Typically, primary's were of higher intelligence and younger. Further studies also suggest that primaries are susceptible to schizophrenia Lillian's page suggests Schizo, which runs in families. Could the Weaver family have a history of Schizo? and often diagnosed with episodes of paranoid delusions. Often, factors arise due to unhealthy/interrupted ego development in early stages of life. Some may even develop Oedipus and Electra complexes and unusual sexual tastes, most notably INCEST. In parent-child Folie a Deux, it's often stemmed by an unhealthy relationship filled with jealously, rejection, anger and sometimes sexual interest - usually from the child to a parent of the opposite sex. Recipients of Folie a Deux often share similar psychiatric disorders, are susceptible to unhealthy bonding, low self-esteem and lack of personal responsibility. Essentially, they depend on one another. Delusional ideas and psychosis are rarely transferred to healthy individuals, however passive people may have a genetic disposition to psychosis. From what we do know about the twins, Tim seemed to talk for Tom, as well as protect him. In the photo evidence, Tom isn't standing beside his brother... He's standing BEHIND him. Tom also looks notably meek. Look at his body language after 5AM, and you'll get what I mean. Those who are prone to shared psychosis have an unusually close relationship from a nuclear family, though at an extremity, and this are isolated from others by language, culture or geography. Isolated. Who does this sound like so far? Individuals with shared psychosis lack insight. Fully involved with their delusions, they do NOT seek help. Why would they if they believe they're real? ESPECIALLY because someone else can see/believe them too? There are also rare instances where hallucinations aren't present in the primary but exist strongly within the secondary. Dominants are usually schizophrenic, delusional or suffer from a mood disorder. The common belief of Folie a Deux is that primaries are more intelligent, with the recipient being of lesser intelligence, though there's no evidence to support or debunk this. Going by Wick, we do get the impression that Tim IS rather clever for his age. I want to go back to the incest point. Personally, I don't think the boys were at the extremity to be incestual in the slightest, though it IS an interesting and very terrifying thought. Reminds me of the IAMX song "My Secret Friend" suggest reading the lyrics AND watching the official video, then you'll understand the sort of tragedy I'm trying to convey. If Tom's NWO poem is to be taken from Tom's perspective Hollow Men, then we actually learn that Tom doesn't actually see himself as an individual, but rather as part of a collective. This ties in to the 'Shared Emotional State' in twins, but at a SEVERE extremity. It seems somewhat reminiscent of the lack of identity present in someone with Borderline Personality Disorder. But we don't know nearly enough on Tom to determine anything more than polio personally do perceive him - and to an extent Tim - as potentially autistic, but there's still not enough proof to confirm nor deny. Considering Tim's dominating nature, it would make sense that Tom feels more like a piece of Tim, he isn't really given a say or a chance to develop as a person - similar to the stunted ego development referenced earlier. Based on what we know of Tim, I honestly don't think he intended to contribute to the extensive damage done to Tom. In fact, I think Tim was innocently trying to protect and save him however he was far to protective, completely dictating both of them. And if Tom really is as passive as the shared psychosis documents imply, I don't think Tom would have spoken up about discomfort, even if he did feel uncomfortable. After all poor Tom's had to endure, I think he was vulnerable enough to let Tim influence him. Tim's always been there - possibly the only consistency in his life. Tim's always tried to protect him, love and care for him. To an extent, I think Tim may have nearly substituted as a parent for him. In Tom's mind Tim = Good. Tom never got to develop an identity of his own. To him, he's just another part of Tim. If Tim told him to jump, he'd simply reply "How high?", providing he can talk at all. Before I delve into the TYPE of Shared Psychosis they may share, I want to cover an important famital issues. I've already stated schizophrenia. It was speculated on Lil's Journal Page, though I can't find anything solid to confirm or deny this - I mean, she's at 'Imaginary Friends' age, so it's a very tricky subject. However, I'd like to thank Chr0me who's more knowledgeable on this than myself, who told me that Schizo can run in families - and pretty strongly too. Shared Psychosis' biggest contribution is at least one person being Schizo not always. Potentially, this proves that schizo WAS strong in the family. Could it also be the 'evil' Mary said she possessed? pun intended Schizo was officially recognised in 1887, however around the Weaver's time, there was still a big stigma on mental illnesses. Evidently any illness that was seen as 'abnormal' Tom's polio which was actually first properly acknowledged as a virus in 1908 was possibly deemed 'evil'. This somewhat proves that the Weavers may have been BEHIND their time, most likely due to their location AND the heavy influence of religion by a corrupt bastard. Anyways, we know that schizo was potentially strong in the family. We know for a fact that the twins potentially suffered shared psychosis. That means that one of them was rather severely mentally ill. All evidence so far points to Tim being mentally ill. And because of this, I honestly feel that this was the reason that Tim was also dismissed as a Changeling. If polio was recognised being activity treated at the time, yet this seems to be an excusable reason to excuse Tom of being a Changeling, then it's not too far fetched to believe that Tim's mental illness was also largely unrecognised as labelled under Changeling either. This Shared Psychosis proves that the boys were locked away from the world. Either they've never attended a school in their lives makes their school boy uniforms in the evidence photo heartbreaking - perhaps they dressed as what they wanted to be?, or if they have, they haven't attended one in YEARS. Personally, I HC them as unlucky 13. I also HC that they did go to school briefly. Going off my own HC all the way to their deaths, I personally believe that they were removed from school between 7-8. So these are vast years to be sheltered from any other living thing apart from each other and John was also homebound. This is the ONLY thing they know. They weren't taken to church, weren't known to locals. And Lil's page implies that she may have been isolated from her brothers. If that's the case, then the twins hardly ever saw even their own SIBLINGS! Mary brought them up in quite possibly one of the most unhealthiest households ever. Partnered with belief of abuse, overlooking both their sicknesses possibly more so as it's an 'invisible' illness, withheld affection, the twins being at risk of mental illness anyways... It really seems like there was no hope for the boys from the beginning. And John, they're rather fond of him. Tim made him a mask. Both own something given to them by John - NOT Mary. And all three are implied to be home bound. Meaning, they only had each other. But this raises some massive red flags. John must have been around them a lot. So how on Earth did he miss heavy red flags that Tim least would be showing? The boys aren't accustomed to social norms due to no experience, therefore they most likely wouldn't have a conscious filter on things they say. Surely Tim must have said something disturbing at some point. He was willing to stab and KILL for his brother - and rather nonchalantly. The more I look into it, the more Tim must have been obscenely abnormal. Alarmingly so. If anyone, JOHN should have noticed. And although John seemed to love and care for all the kids, even he seemed to massively let them down. He couldn't protect them from Mary. Heck, he couldn't protect the twins from themselves and each other. Maybe... John himself could have Shared the Psychosis too. Being dominant himself, maybe he was the one to essentially infect the boys. The war could have damaged him. Though I believe Hellbent intended for the delusions to be present in the twins only. Still, John really should have took more notice - or perhaps he did the best he could? FINALLY, we get onto which Subtype did the boys fall into? Let's find out! Firstly, let's establish the roles once more. Tim talks for Tom. He protects Tom - rather aggressively. He presents himself calm and composed, standing upright and looking on in the face. His presentable appearance DOES give way to being potentially having low self-esteem, but otherwise he presents himself rather... Confidently. Even in the photo, he's standing in front. Not as tall or bold as Cal, but out of both twins, he's clearly the 'confident' one. It's safe to presume Tim was the primary. This means that TIM was the mentally ill twin, and the trigger. Now to Tom. Tom stands BEHIND Tim. This is intriguing, being twins you'd think they'd stand side by side. But Tom almost seems to hide behind Tim. Like secondaries, he seems very dependent on Tim. At the end of 5AM, Tom shows clear signs of someone lacking confidence. His head is hung low and he appears to be mentally elsewhere. His eye contact SUCKS - something that I partner with Changelings to support my autism theory. Tom seems very meek, and seeing this side of him pretty much paints him as possibly being a gentle character in life. Like Cal, we never hear any voice lines from Tom, but unlike Cal we can presume that Tom isn't remotely similar to him. And based on Tim's lines, it appears as though Tim spoke for him. Shy, maybe. Or was he incapable of speech at all? And their poems, Tim's seems sad yet like an outsider observing the world around him. Tom's however talks as a collective - not an individual. I'd say this is possibly the BIGGEST contradiction we see when comparing the boys to each other. A clear divide between the boys POV. So now: A - A psychotic person transmits the delusions onto a mentally SOUND person. Mentally sound. Well, there's only one of the twins that could have been mentally sound, which is Tom. We've established that Tim isn't. But Tom doesn't strike me as mentally healthy. Both are intimately associated. However, they aren't separated long enough to prove or debunk that separation would 'cure' them - especially Tom. Delusional thinking is obviously present. Poor attention and concentration rings strong with the little we've seen on Tom. However, Tim seems to focus well - at least long enough to sit and carving masks. Obvious lack of insight but no clear sign of judgement. Overall, I don't think they're in Sub A. Sorry. B - Psychosis in both. Intimately related AND morbidly predispositioned Tom. Now there's nothing to prove paranoia, though Tim does seem like someone who could be heavily paranoid. He strikes me this way. Lack of insight. Disorganised thoughts I THINK are a part of Schizo, which means this counts if we consider the family history. At the same Tim, I think Tim is rather calculated. Overall, this seems somewhat likely. C - I'll be honest, I don't know what is meant by 'long period of resistance'. Maybe resisting the delusions or being 'cured'? Symptoms are remained even after separation. Hypervigilance, I'll let you be the judge. However, I think obsessive thinking seems to suit the twins VERY well. This one ties in with the autism theory, but I believe they did have obsessive thoughts. At the very least, Tim was obsessed with masks - and to an extent his twin and father. Brooding seems to describe both boys pretty well imo, as well as rumination. Both seem like deep thinkers, especially because they seemed to have all the time to think. Anxiety strikes me as Tom's nature overall. He seems rather meek and nervous whenever we see him actually behaving as himself - as opposed to a murderous phantom. And lack of reasoning. I think this suits Sunday Worship. Tom erratically kills James as to why but it's still a very irrational action, and Tim's in-game nature seems to lack reasoning. He's even willing to kill for Tom. Overall, I think this one is HIGHLY possible. D - So a basic psychotic profile, paranoia established - though if Tim is paranoid, I feel he could easily but unintentionally scare Tom into belief by bond, lack of reasoning AGAIN, poor judgement and insight. Poor relatedness in all subtypes but A, showing that he was only interested in bonding with Tom. Based on his reclusive hobbies, this is strongly evident. As for Tom, he'd be convinced that he only needs Tim. Limited eye contact - VERY notable in Tom, going back to my autism argument rather than autism, he's actually Sub D?. Bizarre mannerisms, magical thinking. This sounds similar to think? schizoid, and definitely has faint autistic traits. This seems the most likely. My opinion? I think C or D. But I'll let you decide. Finally, demons exist in Wick. We hear and see them. Potentially, they may not be ill, but rather have seen the demon. But because no one else can, it appears as psychosis. This demon is with them in Sunday Worship and snarls when they're babies. Also, if it IS delusions, then what were these delusions? Category:Blog posts